Stenographic type-writing machine



(No Model.)' 5 Sheets-Shet 1. P; E; CURTIS;

STENOGRAPHIG TYPE WRITING MACHINE. No. 555,533. Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

(No Model.)- 5 sheet-sneet 2 F. E. ;OURTIS. STBNOGRAPHIG TYPE WRITING MACHINE. No. 556,533/ Patented Mar. 1'7, 1896.

AN DREWEGRAHAM. PHOTOLmID. WR$I1INGTON. D C

(No Model.) 5 sheets-sheet a. F. E.- CURTIS. STENOGRAPHIG TYPE WRITING MAGHINE.

(No Model.) 5 Sheets-Sheet 4.

P. CURTIS. STENOGRAPHIG TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

No. 556,533. Patented Mar. 17, 1896.

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No Model.) 5 sheets sheet '5.

P. EVCURTIS'. STENOGRAPHIO TYPE WRITING MACHINE.

N0.556,533. Patented Mar. 17 1896.

IN BREW EGRANAM,PNBTO-LITHQWASHINGTUMQC.

UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

FRANK E. CURTIS, OF STTJOSEPH, MISSOURI.

STENOGRAPHIC TYPE-WRITING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 556,533, dated March 17, 1896.

Application filed June 4, 1894. Serial No. 513,428. (No model.)

To all whonz, it may concern:

Be it known that I, FRANK E. CURTIS, a citizen of the United States, residing at St. J oseph, in the county of Buchanan and State of Missouri, have invented a new and useful Stenographic Type-lVriter, of which the following is a specification.

My invention relates to type-writing machines, and particularly to that class of devices designed to use stenographic or shorthand characters; and the object of the invention is to provide a mechanism of simple construction employing a minimum number of parts, whereby the maximum speed without undue exertion to the operator may be attained.

Further objects and advantages of the invention will appear in the following description and the novel features thereof will be particularly pointed out in the claims.

In the drawings, Figure 1 is a perspective view of a machine embodying my invention. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same. Fig. 3 is a side view. Fig. a is a longitudinal section on the line 4 4 of Fi 2. Fig. 5 is a plan view of a slightly-modified form of the machine employing different means for carrying the paper, whereby a strip instead of a sheet or roll may be used. Fig. 6 is a detail transverse section on the line 6 6 of Fig. 2. Fig. 7 is a detail view showing the impressions of the characters as they are made upon the sheet or strip and illustrating the manner in which the same are grouped. Fig. 8 is'a detail view in plan of the carriage-locking pawl, showing it in its disengaged position. Fig. 9 is a detail view of a clutch connection between the line-spacing lever and the spindle of the feedroll. Fig. 10 is a detail view of ribbon-guide.

Similar numerals of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the figures of the drawin gs.

In that form of the machine which I will describe as the preferred form 1 represents a base provided at suitable points with standards 2 having bearings 3,in which are mounted the horizontal rock-shafts 4 of the key-levers. I preferably employ ten key-levers, that being the number which may be covered by the fingers of the operator to enable the latter to operate either or all of the keys simultaneously or independently without lateral movements of the hands or of the fingers. These keys are arranged in two adjacent groups, (shown at 5 and 6, respectively,) the group 5 being designed for the right hand of the operator and the group 6 for the left hand, and the diposition of the keys in the groups being such as to suit the relative positions of the fingers and avoid inconvenience to the operator.

The reciprocatory type-bars 7 and 8 are arranged to slide horizontally and are connected respectively to the key-levers by means of depending crank-arms 9 carried by the rockshafts. The type-bars of the group 7 are arranged in a plane above those of the group 8 and are connected for operation to the keylevers of the group 5, whereby it will be seen that the crank-arms which form the connections between the key-levers of the group 6 and the type-bars of the group 8 are longer than those cranks which form the connections between the key-levers of the group 5 and the type-bars of the group 7. The type-heads carried by said type-bars are indicated in the general figures at 10, and in Fig. 7 is shown a diagram indicating the impressions made by the various type-heads and indicating the v relative positions of the groups and of the several impressions comprising agroup.

Referring to said Fig. 7 it will be observed that the characters are arranged to radiate from a common center, whereby when all of the characters of one group are employed, as by depressing all of the key-levers of one group simultaneously, the resulting character is a combination of all of the individual characters intersecting, or approximately intersecting, at the center of the space bounded by lines connecting the outer extremities of said individual characters. of the upper group, which, as above described, are those formed by the right-hand group of key-levers, are designed to represent the first and intermediate or middle letterof a word, while the characters of the lower group, or those which are formed by the lefthand group of key-levers, are designed to represent the final letter of the same word. Inasmuch as the operation of the key-levers is independent, any number of the keys may be depressed at The characters one time to form characters representing the first, intermediate, and lastletters of a given word.

The paper-carryin g devices employed in this form of the mechanism are constructed as follows:

11 represents a carriage provided with a paper roll 12 mounted in suitable bearings at the extremities of the carriage.

13 represents parallel transversely-disposed guides or tracks, and 14 a series of antifriction-rolls mounted upon the carriage and arranged to bear upon the upper and lower sides of said guides or tracks. This carriage is provided at its front side with a fixed platen 15 having a plane surface, which is thus disposed perpendicular to the line of movement of the type-bars, whereby when the key-levers are depressed the type-bars are moved perpendicularly toward the plane of the platen to impress their particular characters upon the surface of the paper which is arranged in front of the platen. The paper may be employed in the form of sheets or a roll, the latter, however, being preferable in that it obviates the necessity of changing or replacing, and therefore in the drawings I have illustrated at 16 a continuous strip or roll, the loose end of which extends forward under the lower edge of the platen 15, thence up in contact with the front surface of said platen and between the rear side of a feed-roll 17 and the front side of a guide-roll 18, the latter being arranged directly above the upper edge of the platen. By providing the feed-roll with suitable line-spacing devices, as hereinafter described, the paper may be fed continuously during the operation of the machine to present fresh surfaces for the impression of the characters carried by the type-bars.

The carriage-feeding mechanism comprises a rack-bar 19 arranged transversely in front of the platen and parallel with the direction of movement of the carriage, apinion 20meshing with the teeth of said rack-bar, a ratchetwheel 21 fixed to the spindle 22 of said pinion and an operating-pawl 23 engaging the teeth of said ratchet-wheel and actuated by the keylevers. In operation this pawl 23 is in advance of the line of movement of the type-bars as the latter are moved by the depression of the key-levers, thereby causing the nose 24 of said pawl to slip idly over the teeth of the ratchetwheel, but when the key levers are released the pawl 23 is retracted or moved in the opposite direction to turn the ratchet-wheel and hence the pinion, and thereby move the carriage in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. The rack-bar 19 is provided, as upon its front side, with ratchet-teeth 25,with which is engaged the free end of the lockingpawl 26 pivotally mounted upon the base of the machine and provided with an actuatingspring 27. This locking-pawl is designed to allow the carriage to move in the direction indicated by said arrow in Fig. 2 and prevent movement in the opposite direction, whereas the storage actuating-spring 28, which may be located at any suitable point on the frame, is connected by means of a band or cord or other flexible device 29 to the carriage to move the latter in the opposite direction. This band or flexible connection 29 passes around a direction-pulley 30 located adjacent to the line of the rack-bar, whereby the spring upon the carriage may be as nearly as possible in the direction of its movement.

In connection with the above-described feeding mechanism I employ a pivotal trip 31 located in operative relation with the lockingpawl 26 with one arm 32 in contact with said pawl and the other arm 33 overhanging the rack-bar 19, and I also provide such rack-bar adjacent to its opposite extremities with stoppins 34 and 35, either of which, at the limits of movement of the carriage, is adapted to engage the arm 33 of the trip. Therefore as the carriage is advanced in the direction of movement of the arrow in Fig. 2 by the forward and backward vibration of the operating-pawl the tension of the spring 28 is increased until the pin 34 engages the arm 33 of the trip, and by turning the latter upon its pivot disengages the locking-pawl from the ratchet-teeth 25, whereupon the restraining devices being withdrawn the carriage is actuated by the spring 28 and returned at once to its initial position by movement in the direction opposite to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2. When the pin 35 en gages the arm 33 of the trip at the limit of the return or backward movement of the carriage, said trip is thrown out of engagement with the locking-pawl, thereby allowing the latter to be returned by its actuating-spring 27 to engagement with the teeth 25.

In Fig.2 the locking-pawl and co-operating devices are shown in the locked positions, and in Fig. 8 said parts are shown in the disengaged positions which they assume when the pin 34 has engaged the arm of the trip at the limit of the forward or left-hand movement of the carriage. A stop 36 is employed to limit the movement of the trip when the latter is engaged by the pin 34.

The type-bars pass at intermediate points through suitably-disposed guide-perforations 37 in a diaphragm 38, and are provided adjacent to the plane of said diaphragm with shoulders 39. To this diaphragm adjacent to its free end is pivotally connected the ex tremity of the operating-pawl 23, whereby the advance movement of either of the typcbars is communicated to the diaphragm by means of the shoulder of said type-bar, and is therefore communicated to the operatingpawl. A spring 40, attached to the free end of the diaphragm, assists the resilience of the diaphragm in returning the latter to its normal position, this return movement being utilized through the operating-pawl to turn the ratchet-wheel 21 and thus advance the carriage in the direction of the arrow. A

spring 41 connected at one end to the diaphragm is utilized to maintain the free end of the operating-pawl in engagement with the teeth of said ratchet-wheel.

In connection with the aboveI also employ a key-locking device consisting of a bar 42, connected at one end to the locking-pawl 26 adjacent to its free end and disposed at the opposite end close to the plane of the diaphragm, as shown clearly in Fig. 2. When the locking-pawl is in its normal or looking position the extremity of this key-locking bar 42 is disposed at such an interval from the plane of the diaphragm as to allow the latter free movement when actuated by the key-levers through the type-bars, as above described; but 'when the locking pawl is disengaged from the ratchet-teeth of the carriage by the operation of the trip 31 the extremity of the key-locking bar 42 is brought into contact with the diaphragm, thus locking the latter against advance movement with the type-bars. Therefore during the backward or return movement of the carriage when the locking-pawl is out of engagement therewith the key-levers are locked, and when the carriage reaches its initial position and the pin 35 engages the trip and releases the locking-pawl the key-levers are again free to operate.

The line-spacing mechanism, which I preferably employ in order that the sheet or roll may be fed automatically during backward or return movement of the carriage, consists of a line-spacing lever 43 loosely mounted upon the spindle of the feed-roll 17 and connected by means of a clutch 44 with the same, whereby as the free end of said lever is moved in the direction ofthe arrow in Fig. 1 the members of said clutch are in engagement, and the movement of the lever is communicated to the feed-roll and through a gear 45 and a pinion 46 to the guide-roll 18. A spring 47 is employed to hold the members of the clutch 44 in engagement. It will be understood that when this line-spacing lever is swung in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3 the members of the clutch do not coact to communicate motion to the feed-roll, but on the other hand the face of the loose member which is carried by the lever slips idly over the face of the member carried by the roll. This line-spacing lever is actuated by means of a spiral guide 48 arranged concentric with the feedroll and with the line-spacing lever and in such position that the free end of said lever is permanently in engagement therewith. The length of this guide is sufficient to permit free movement of the carriage from one endof its track to the other, and it is curved through an arc of, for instance, ninety degrees. The spring 47, in addition to maintaining the members of the clutch in operative relation, serves to hold the free end of the line-spacing lever in engagement with the spiral guide, whereby as the carriage is moved forward or in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2 the free end of the line-spacin g lever rises, and during this movement the members of the clutch slip idly and the feed-roll remains in a fixed position, but when the carriage reaches the limit of its forward movement and the feed mechanism and trip devices are actuated to release and return the same the free end of the line-spacing lever is depressed or turned in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 3, thus turning the feed-roll and feeding the paper.

The inking devices in the construction illustrated in the drawings consist of a ribbon 49 carried by the spools 50, which are mounted upon vertical spindles 51, and the guide-yoke 52, which is supported by the spindles of the spools and through which the ribbon passes, whereby a portion of the latter is held close to the plane of the paper which traverses the platen. This guide-yoke consists of rearwardly-divergent pairs of parallel arms 53, disposed respectively above and below the planes of the extremities of the spools and provided with eyes 54 to engage said spindles, vertical guide-rods 55 connecting the front extremities of the arms of each pair, studs 56 arranged parallel with said guiderods 55 and adapted to extend over the upper and lower edges of the ribbon, and 'a connecting-rod 5? connecting the upper of the two pairs of arms. The construction of this yoke is shown clearly in detail in Fig. 10. A The means for feeding the ribbon-spools consist of twin pawls 63 pivotally connected to the diaphragm 38 and connected together near their free ends by a cross-piece 64, whereby any one of the pawls may be in engagement with the ratchet-teeth 65 of its respective spool at one time. An actuatingspring 66 is connected at one end to its crosspiece 64 and at the other end to one of the eyes 67 and 68 of the diaphragm. When this end of the spring 66 is engaged with the eye 67 one of the pawls 63 is in engagement with the adjacent spool, and when said spring is engaged with the other eye 68 the other pawl is in engagement with the adjacent spool.

In the modified form of my invention, which is illustrated in Fig. 5, a transversely-movable strip of paper 58 instead of asheet or roll is employed. The construction of the key-levers, type-bars, and connections, the diaphragm and the inking mechanism, and the operations of said parts are substantially the same as above described, but instead of employing a carriage with the necessary linespacing, feeding, and similar devices, I arrange a stationary platen 59 in position to receive the impact of the type-bars, and adjacent to this platen I dispose a feed-roll 60 having a ratchet 61, which is engaged and operated by an operating-pawl identical with and operating similar to that described in connection with Figs. 1 to 4 and indicated by the numeral 23. In connection with this feed-roll I employ a guide-roll 62 to hold the paper in contact with the feed-roll, as clearly shown in said Fig. 5. Therefore instead of using a carriage and other means for attaining a transverse movement of the paper to bring different parts of its surface in the line of movement of the type-bars in order that the paper may be fed both longitudinally and transversely, as is necessary when the impressions are formed upon a sheet or roll, I use a narrow strip of just suflicient width to receive the impressions of the characters carried by the upper and lower groups of typebars, and I feed this strip transversely with relation to the machine, whereby its movement is continuously in one direction. Any suitable means for supporting the receiving and paying rolls may be employed, but as such devices are common I have not deemed it necessary to illustrate any form in the drawings.

It is desirable, in order to avoid the necessity of using a spacing-key, to provide means for causing a greater interval between the words than between the letters or parts of a word, and to accomplish this I arrange the type-bars which carry the characters to represent the terminations of words in a lower plane than the type-bars bearing the characters representing' the fore parts of the words, whereby the type-bars of the lower group are given a longitudinal movement in excess of the type-bars of the upper group by the same movement of the key-levers. Therefore the diaphragm which communicates the movements of the type-bars to the paper carrying and feeding devices is moved farther after the depression of a key-lever which is connected to a type-bar of the lower group than when actuated by a key-lever connected to a type-bar of the upper group, and hence said paper carrying and feeding devices receive a movement of greater extent in the former case than in the latter.

The operation of the above-described 1nechanism will be readily understood from the foregoing without further explanation, and it is obvious that various changes in the form, proportion, and the minor details of construction may be resorted to without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages thereof.

Having described my invention, what I claim is 1. The combination with a platen and paper feeding and inking devices, of type-bars ar ranged in spaced groups adapted to form impressions to represent, respectively, the first and last syllables of a word, key-levers operatively connected with the type-bars, means for regulating the throw of the type-bars whereby those in one group move a greater distance than those in the other group, and connections between the key-levers and the paper-feeding devices, the movement of the paper-feeding devices being proportionate to the throw of the type-bars whereby the impressions for the first and last syllables of a word are distinguishable, substantially as specified.

2. The combination with a platen and pap erfeeding devices, of an inking device having receiving and paying spools, and a ribbon reeled thereon, a spring-actuated vibrating diaphragm arranged parallel with the plane of the spindles of said spools, longitudinallymovable type-bars extending through perforations in the diaphragm and provided with shoulders to engage the same, said bars being perpendicular to the plane of the diaphragm, means for operating the type-bars, and connections between the diaphragm and said spools, substantially as specified.

3. The combination with a platen, and paperfeeding devices, of an inking device having paying and receiving spools, and a ribbon reeled thereon, said spools being provided with ratchets, a vibrating diaphragm parallel with the plane of the spindles of said spools, pivotal pawls carried by the diaphragm and connected near their free ends whereby they are adapted to engage the ratchet on either of the spools, a reversible spring for adjusting said pawls to engage the ratchet 011 the desired spool, type-bars fitting to slide in perforations in the diaphragm and provided with shoulders to engage the latter, and means for operatin g the type-bars, substantially as specified.

l. The combination with a platen and paperfeeding devices, an inking device having paying and receiving spools and a ribbon reeled thereon, type-bars, means for operating said type-bars, and connections between the typebars and said spools, of a ribbon-guide comprising a yoke provided with pairs of parallel arms secured at their rear ends to the spindles of the ribbon-spools, respectively, above and below the spools, transverse vertical guiderods connecting the front ends of the arms of each pair, a horizontal cross-bar connecting the front ends of the upper arms of said pairs, and retaining-studs 56 arranged parallel with and at the lower ends of the guide-rods to engage the lower edges of the ribbon, substantially as specified.

5. The combination with type bars and means for operating the same, of a carriage having a rack-bar, carriage-feeding mechanism for imparting a step bystep forward movement thereto, a return-spring connected to the carriage, a ratchet-bar on the carriage, a spring-actuated pawl arranged to engage the ratchet-bar to hold the carriage after each forward movement, an intermediately pivoted trip-lever arranged at one end in contact with said pawl and at the other end in the path of proj eetions arranged,respectively, near the extremities of the carriage, whereby said lever is engaged alternately by the projections to throw the pawl out of engagement with the ratchet-bar and release the same to allow it to retun to its normal position, and a stop-pin to limit the movement of the triplever when it is moved to throw the pawl out of engagement, substantially as specified.

6. The combination with type bars, and means for operating the same, of a paper-carriage having a rack-bar, a pinion meshing With the teeth of said rack-bar, avibratordiaphragm operatively connected with the type-bars, an operating-pawl carried by the diaphragm and engaging a ratchet-Wheel on the spindle of said pinion, a return-spring operatively connected With the carriage, a locking-pawl arranged to engage ratchet-teeth on the carriage, a trip device arranged in operative relation with the locking-pawl and adapted to be engaged by projections on the carriage at the limits of the movements of the latter, and a locking-bar connected With the locking-pawl and adapted to engage the said diaphragm When the locking-pawl is disengaged from the ratchet-teeth of the carriage, substantially as specified.

7. The combination With reciprocatory typebars, and means for operating the same, of a paper-carriage having a rack-bar, a pinion meshing with the teeth of said rack-bar, a return-spring operatively connected with the carriage, a vibratory diaphragm provided With perforations through which said type-bars extend, shoulders on the type-bars to engage the diaphragm, an actuating-spring connected to the diaphragm to return the same after each forward movement, a locking-pawl engaging ratchet-teeth on the carriage, a pivotal trip arranged with one arm in operative relation With the locking-pawl and the other arm in the path of projections on the carriage, an operating-pawl connected with the diaphragm, a ratchet-Wheel fixed to the spindle of said pinion and adapted to be engaged by said operating-pawl during the return or backward movement of the latter, and a locking-bar connected to the locking-pawl and adapted to engage a diaphragm When the locking-pawl is disengaged from the ratchet-teeth of the carriage, substantially as specified.

In testimony that I claim the foregoing as my own I have hereto affixed my signature in the presence of two witnesses.

FRANK E. CURTIS. lVitnesses CHAS. H. HOEHN, FRANK R. ATWILL. 

